President of Chamber of Commerce Nadan Vidošević and CCPIT Sichuan Council President Li Gang signed a Memorandum of Understanding , Photo by Photo by Gordana Popović, CD

INTERNATIONAL TRADE

Sichuan province representatives in search of investment opportunities in Croatia

"We expect the visit of a delegation of Chinese province of Sichuan Croatia will be an additional impetus to the development of cooperation between the two countries," stressed the President of Chamber of Commerce Nadan Vidošević at the meeting with a delegation from the Chinese province of Sichuan, led by Vice Governor Huang Xiaoxiang, which was held on November 14, 2011. at the Chamber of Commerce. On that occasion, President of Chamber of Commerce Nadan Vidošević and CCPIT Sichuan Council President Li Gang signed a Memorandum of Understanding between the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (CCC) and the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade - Sichuan (CCPIT Sichuan Council).

The delegation of this Chinese province, which was in Croatia from 12 to 15 November; included the leading representatives of the largest telecommunication and construction companies and major banks province of Sichuan. On the Croatian side were the representatives of the Ministry of Economy, Labour and Entrepreneurship, the Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the Croatian Telecommunication Agency. The aim of the visit of the delegation; was meeting with Croatian investment projects in the public and private sectors.

Lots of agreements - low cooperation

Sichuan province is among the most promising and most propulsive Chinese provinces with 90 million inhabitants and the economic growth rates above 13 percent, which is particularly based on export growth, said Vidošević. He also added "that in Croatia in the coming years there will be no growth without the strengthening of investment activity"; so this is an opportunity to recognize Croatia as a partner for joint cooperation within the EU. With such cooperation China will get access to a market of 500 million consumers. So far, between our two countries 48 commercial agreements were signed, and the most interested sector to invest in Croatia are finances, trade and telecommunications.

"Croatia used to trade with China in the past and exported $700 million US. Now the goal is to return to the results achieved, and then higher", said Vidosevic. Croatia has very good transport connections to Europe from the south of the continent and through the Adriatic ports and shortest link to Asia through the Suez, which is a significant opportunity for access to the broader European market. In addition, Croatia is located on the Danube as the nearest relation of the European waterway and the Adriatic Sea. These are the two most important markets in Europe corridor connections that are located in Croatia, and hence the other options. Vidošević said that Croatia is an ideal place for air travel, has a developed infrastructure - ports, road networks and telecommunications, and the plan is also modernization of the rail network. Croatia also has five climatic zones with large amounts of water in all of them. Construction of the canal network and irrigation systems provides the possibility for intensive agricultural production. All these benefits China's Sichuan province can provide communication with the rest of Europe, said Vidošević noting the importance of Chinese President visits two years ago, which is among the most important events in the recent history of Croatia, and that the sign of friendship between the two nations should be the foundation of prosperity.

Sichuan province wants to buy more Croatian products

The deputy governor of Sichuan province Huang Xiaoxiang, said that the Sichuan province to economic strength in eighth place in China and is especially developed industrial production and agriculture. Sichuan province last year achieved a GDP growth of 13.7 percent, and this year foreign trade increased 41.7 percent. For example, every other mobile phone of Apple is produced in Sichuan, said Xiaoxiang pointing out that in the southwestern China province they are an important traffic corridor and trade center. "We want to buy more Croatian products and our company to invest more in Croatia," said Xiaoxiang adding that "Croatia has a very good infrastructure, especially ports, and Sichuan has railway connection with Europe as well as direct air links with major European cities".

So far there has not been significant Chinese investments in Croatia. Representative offices in Croatia were opened by only six Chinese companies. Economic cooperation with China and Croatia is mostly achieved at the level of provinces and cities, and the prospects are best in the construction of logistics centers and distribution of industrial metals and enegetics, Representatives of Sichuan were informed about investment opportunities in the business area Podi Šibenik, industrial park Nova Gradiška, with construction of thermal power plant Plomin; a project worth 800 million euros and the project of building modern railway line Botovo - Rijeka. Possibilities of cooperation with Chinese companies are in manufacturing electrical equipment, food processing, shipbuilding, etc. So far there is huge imbalance - Croatia exports to China goods worth 36 million USD and imports of 1.1 billion USD.

More information about investment opportunities in Croatia